


I swore to you that I would be back.

by luckyfeathers



Category: Dream SMP - (Fandom), Dream SMP - Fandom, DreamSMP, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Comfort, Dream is in Prison, Dream is out for revenge, Emotional Manipulation, Enderman Hybrid Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Enderman Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Enderman Reader, Endermen are fuzzy, Experiment Ranboo, F/M, Found Family, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrids, Manipulation, Manipulative Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), More of a siblingish/protective dynamic, Multi, New to the Fandom, No one hurts Ranboo and gets away with it, Only soft boy and angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Post-disc war, Ranboo Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo’s character is older, Reader has history with the team, Reader is an enderman, Reader is out for revenge, Reader uses female pronouns, Reader-Insert, Sad Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Slight Dream/Reader, Sort Of, for being a horrible human, have mercy please, no beta we die like techno, sfw, they have fur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:14:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29077680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckyfeathers/pseuds/luckyfeathers
Summary: It’s over.With the conclusion of the war and Dream locked away in prison, things seem to have calmed down, at least for now. Troubled by his past actions and unsure of what comes next, Ranboo retreats further into seclusion, battling with conflicting inner voices while the server tries to move on. But not you. Anger towards Dream and his actions coupled with Ranboo’s worsening state drives you to make a decision that you just might end up regretting.:)~Dream SMP Fandom
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF)/Reader, Platonic Ranboo/Reader, Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF) & Original Character(s), Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF)/Reader, Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF)/You, Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF/Original Character(s), clay | dream & reader, ranboo/reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 84





	I swore to you that I would be back.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This might loosely follow canon but not completely, though as more stuff is released I’ll make it pertinent in one way or another.
> 
> PSA — Also, I am aware that Ranboo is a minor, which is why this fic will solely be fluff/friendship-based. I and everyone else is obligated to respect that and not create content that would make CCs uncomfortable, especially those that are underage. Respect the boundaries :)

_…How long has it been?_

The soft glow of the still-rising sun bathed the landscape before you with a myriad of subtle pinks, oranges, and yellows, the morning light sparkling off of the ground and making it glisten. The branches from the few spruce trees in your vicinity swung slowly with the encouragement of a gentle breeze that had just begun to form, the sound of the rustling needles almost completely muffled from the blanket of snow that covered everything in sight. The slight chill might have bothered someone else less acclimated to the temperature, but you were content with where you were and largely indifferent to the weather here, at least for the most part.

Your sensitive hearing picked up the playful chittering of a pair of nearby arctic foxes, breaking the muffled silence of the tundra, and you spared a glance in their direction from where you were sitting at the top of a small hill. The animals were fighting over an object that you couldn’t see, rolling around and wrestling with each other and sending small puffs of powdery snow up into the air as they went.

Letting out a soft sigh, you turned back to the view that you had been overlooking all night. There was a small makeshift house below and a cabin a little farther away, providing the rather desolate biome with a sense of life. The hearth in the cabin had been going since the previous evening, grey smoke rising from the chimney and providing your eyes with an aimless distraction as you sat, and for the first time in weeks, let yourself think.

You should have been fine. You should have been able to enjoy it, and it was frustrating you that you couldn’t.

All things considered, it probably couldn’t have been a more peaceful start to the day. Even the mobs hadn’t given you much trouble during the night after you quickly dispatched a few creepers that had crawled a little too close for comfort, killing them in seconds and making it obvious to any other mobs that you were well-equipped and not in the mood for the usual petty attempts on players’ lives that the night-dwellers usually entertained themselves with. Several loud threats and snarling warnings later, you had managed to stave off the majority of the mobs, those that had any sense of self-preservation completely avoiding you after that. Also, by some miracle, you hadn’t spotted even a single phantom, despite the fact that you almost couldn’t remember the last time you had actually slept. 

Around you was a scattering of your inventory, a product of having restless hands and nothing to do with them. You had spent some time going through your things you had gathered from your previous visit to the Nether, reorganizing the haphazardly thrown-together items and separating the valuables from the rest. You tended to have a bad habit of not caring where you placed things when you picked them up, and it almost always came back to bite you sometime later on when you needed quick access to a potion and ended up having to go digging because you hadn’t taken the few seconds to attach it to your belt.

Most of it was cleaned up and put away now, so you quickly went through and stored the remaining items away in your pouches. You tugged on the leather chest strap that crossed over your front, testing its durability more out of habit than anything else. It was fine, of course, as everything else was, but you found yourself fiddling with bits of your gear anyway. The collection of bottles clinked together as you adjusted your potion belt enough to where you wouldn’t accidentally crush one if you leaned back any further, also instinctually checking each of their corked tops in case one was loose. 

It was only when you returned your attention to your surroundings that you realized just how exhausted you were. Tiredness tugged on your eyelids, the reflected sunlight pricking your darkness-inclined vision uncomfortably, but you knew that even if you did finally decide to lie down that it wouldn’t do you any good. No, the things that were weighing on your mind were far too prominent for you to relax enough for even a few hours of sleep. You knew because you had already tried.

_How long has it been? How do you move on?_

_…What happens now?_

Propped up by your hands, you leaned back against the ground and stared up into the cloudy grey sky. This question and several others related to it had been plaguing your mind for a while now, far longer than was welcome. They would repeat in your head over and over, often returning as if they were never quite satisfied with the answers you gave. In truth, you didn’t have answers, at least not any that would fix anything. 

The server was still reeling from recent events, and you knew that it probably would be for a while longer. Everyone could deny it, sure, but no matter how many times Tommy, Bad, or Tubbo said that it was over, it was obvious that it wasn’t. The three and a few others had almost immediately resumed their day-to-day activities and re-donned their cheerful personas, but this time it was different. This time it was far more fragile.

It was part of the reason why you had stayed away from the others, not only because their constant pretending that nothing had happened was driving you crazy but also because you worried that if you pressed the issue or even brought it up, Tommy and everyone else that was wired would crack. You might be blunt, but you aren’t looking to terrorize the kid any further or start another war. So you left it alone, opting for another solution that arguably wasn’t much better than what everyone else was doing.

What you still couldn’t get past was the fact that it almost felt like nothing had really changed. Dream might have been imprisoned, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that something felt...off— like this was all just another part of some plan that he had created and was waiting for the right moment to strike. Thinking about it, you felt a bit stupid for still worrying, especially after you knew just how intensely and precariously constructed Pandora’s Vault was. Sam had been incredibly thorough and detailed with his design, down to the last block and switch, but the thought of Dream somehow finding a way out continued to linger at the back of your mind. It wasn’t that you doubted Sam’s engineering prowess, it was more that you worried that Dream would discover yet another way to unexpectedly catch everybody off-guard. 

It was stressful and more than infuriating that even though he was out of sight, never to see the light of day again, he was continuing to bother you this badly. It annoyed you beyond anything else that you couldn’t just let it go and move on, but time and time again you failed to rid yourself of the feeling that this, whatever it was, wasn’t over yet. What should have been a victory for you and the others felt more like a delay of an inevitable that was somehow much, much worse. 

The two foxes had stopped tussling with each other, but in their playing, they had rolled closer to you, and once they had realized, they spooked and ran off, leaving you by yourself once again. Their absence dragged you back out of your thoughts, and when you looked up you saw that the sun had almost risen over the horizon line. It was already beginning to warm the crisp morning air, and you adjusted your position to fully face the sun. You closed your eyes, letting your shadow-colored face and arms absorb some of the warmth as you attempted to clear your mind. 

You stayed like that for much longer than you expected, soaking in more heat than you normally would have been comfortable with. This time though, it actually felt...relaxing. Whether that was your sleep-deprived mind talking or not you didn’t know, but after spending the last ten or so hours being so fixated on the troubles you had witnessed you were willing to pass out right then and there. 

The green-dyed scarf you wore around your neck flapped softly in the breeze, the ends swaying in the air behind you. You mindlessly reached up and took some of the worn fabric in your hand, looking down at it as you ran your thumb across it. It was soft between your fingers and you hummed contently, weaving your hand into the thick folds for a bit of familiar comfort. Even the air around you felt somewhat peaceful, something you had almost forgotten was possible. 

No one was expecting you anywhere; you didn’t have anything planned and this spot was as good as any if you were going to doze off. Your weather-resistant fur protected you from the cold of the snow, and you didn’t have to worry too much about it melting into your clothes because of your low body temperature. Maybe you could lie down, even if it was just for a little bit. 

Just before your eyes could close again, something flashed in the corner of your vision. The movement was brief, and you might have dismissed it as a falling snowflake or a stray strand of your hair were it not for the strained and panicked breaths that came with it. You were on your feet in less than a second, nearly scratching yourself with your own claws as you whirled around to find someone stumbling through the snow, slowly making their way forward.

He was coming from the direction of the Nether portal, and from what you could see he looked like he was moments from collapsing. Kicking off the ground and sending a spray of snow in your wake, you sprinted down the hill, skidding to the bottom, and ran towards him. Any feeling of peace that you might have had was gone, replaced by a spike of anxiety and worry that was building inside you alarmingly quickly. You prayed to whatever gods there might be that he wasn’t hurt. 

You came to a halt in front of him, arms reached out in case he fell, but he didn’t look up or even acknowledge that you were there, only stopping when he collided with your chest. 

“Ranboo!” His entire body was shivering violently and his breaths came in short, quick bouts that seemed to speed up every time he inhaled. The sleeves of his coat were bunched up inside his balled fists as he hugged himself tightly as if he was freezing to death. “Ranboo, what happened?” You reached out to put your hands on his shoulders to steady him, but almost immediately he recoiled from your touch, jerking back as if you had burned him. The golden crown that usually rested on his head was crooked, the outline fading in and out as it started to dematerialize. He took a few unstable steps backward, his heterochromatic eyes barely even visible through his long, messied hair. 

“No, no, no, no, _no, no, no—_ ” Ranboo repeated the word over and over, eyes flying left and right as if looking for a way to escape. You took a step towards him, and this time he almost tripped over himself while backing away. “No!” His scream pierced your ears, startling you into flinching back. For a moment, you just stood there, shocked at his sudden and violent reaction, unable to do anything more than watch as he glared down at you with an intensity that you had never seen from him before. “Don’t— d-don’t touch—” His voice cracked mid sentence, cut short with a sharp inhale. 

You didn’t move. The way he was looking at you, the wild, frantic movement of his eyes— it was like you had cornered him up against a wall and he was trapped with nowhere to go. It made you hesitate, the visible fear on his face stopping you from making another move.

“Ranboo—” you tried again, this time softer, holding your hands out in front of you as a gesture of surrender. “It’s just me.” He didn’t say anything, only glancing down at your hands and then back up at you as if you were about to strangle him. You could see his thin tail lashing wildly behind him. “Ranboo, what happened?” 

No response. You dared to slowly shift towards him, but the second you did his breath quickened, forcing you to stand still. 

“Calm down, Ranboo— take a breath.” He was hyperventilating again, and you had to stop yourself from just running to him. “Ranboo, you’re going to pass out. Please,” you urged, trying your best to not come off as intimidating despite the fact that you were practically in full gear. “You have to calm down.” 

It felt like forever that you were standing there, completely unmoving in hopes that he would come to his senses and realize that you weren’t a threat. The breeze had picked up speed, and although it wasn’t too bad, you were faced directly towards it and it was starting to make your ears ache. After a few painfully long moments, you saw Ranboo’s shoulders relax the tiniest bit. He was still tense as hell and would still probably retaliate if you tried anything, but he no longer had the crazed look that he had stared you down with just a minute before. 

“...Ranboo.” You tried again. “Are— are you hurt?” Still, he didn’t answer. His lack of response and the state he was in was triggering every red flag in your book and every instinct to just go and comfort him. “Did someone hurt you?” Ranboo stared through you like you weren’t even there. There didn’t seem to be anything, at least not that you could see, but you didn’t know what else could have shaken him so badly that it had driven him to this point. Your brow furrowed as you tried to figure it out, and it wasn’t long before a possibility dawned on you and your eyes went wide.

The thought of Dream crossed your mind, and for a second, you considered the chance of him having escaped before quickly realizing that if he had, there would have been much more noise from the spawn area and the others. If something like that did happen, Sam would have immediately been on call to alert everyone. Knowing this though, you still couldn’t help yourself from asking.

“Was it...was it Dre—” The syllable had barely left your mouth when Ranboo let out a low, garbled growl, seeming to shrink in on himself as a faint hint of purple particles began to appear around him. You shut your mouth, guilt already rising in your chest for being selfish enough to bring up that smiling bastard when Ranboo was so clearly unstable. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it,” you said hurriedly, fearing that the small amount of progress you had made with him would be lost. “It’s okay, I promise,” you reassured him. “There’s no one else. Just me.”

Ranboo looked at you, _actually_ looked at you this time, and as he did, you watched as a spark of realization came to life in his eyes.

“...Ris?”

You nodded slowly and he took a tentative step towards you, still watching you carefully. You let him come to you at his own pace, slowly inching forward until you could reach out and touch him. 

“I-is this real?”

The question caught you off-guard, and you stared back at him. “I— what?”

“Are you real?” Ranboo’s tone was more forceful this time, holding a creeping sense of hostility behind it that almost gave you chills. 

“Yes, I’m real,” you frowned, finally gathering the confidence to reach out and touch his arm. When he didn’t pull back, you carefully let your hand rest on him. He was as stiff as planks, his posture hardened defensively to protect himself from some unknown threat. “Ranboo,” you said softly, concern laced so tightly in your voice that you were almost whispering. _"W_ _hat happened?”_

He said nothing, only looking to the arm that you had extended. The hold he had on his own arms loosened and one hand dropped to his side while the other slowly reached up. He paused before tentatively touching the short fur on your shoulder, a visible sense of relief showing on his face as he came in contact. You let him run his hand over it, feeling the residual heat of the sun that was still present. This was the first time you could actually see his face and your metaphysical heart clenched. Though his dual-toned hair was covering most of it, you could see the faint trail of tears that stained his cheeks.

“Ranboo…” you muttered quietly, trying to come up with something that would put him at ease despite you not knowing why he was like this in the first place. “I—” You didn’t get to finish because right then he leaned into you, craning his neck to settle his head between yours and your shoulder. Ranboo’s crown had mostly reformed to reflect his calmer state, his magic keeping it in place even as he turned. You felt his fingers curl against your back as he clung to you, releasing a quiet sigh as a shudder ran through his body. Anything you might have said was forgotten, and you returned the hug, feeling his breathing start to slow and even out. Whatever had happened, it could wait. Your priority right now was to make sure Ranboo knew he was safe. 

Your friend shifted slightly, careful not to accidentally poke you with his horns as he buried his face into your neck. It prompted a smile from you; even when pushed to the edge as he had been, Ranboo was as considerate as ever. You lifted his crown and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing out the messy ruffles and restoring the fluffy curls as best as you could before placing it back on his head. 

You wanted to ask questions; you wanted to know what or who could have shaken him so badly so you could fix it and relieve some of his stress, but for now, you held off, knowing that what he needed right now was comfort. The questions could wait until later. Ranboo shivered again as if trying to shake some unseen thing off of him. He had relaxed and was leaning so heavily onto you that you were practically holding him up, but you didn’t mind. 

You felt his legs buckle before he did, but you were prepared and tightened your grip around his torso so he wouldn’t fall. Luckily for you, Ranboo was fairly lightweight, something that could partly be owed to the unique heritage that you both shared. His height made carrying him a little awkward, even though you weren’t too much shorter, but his home wasn’t far.

Doing your best not to disturb him, you looked out towards where the portal was, your eyes following the track of his shallow, uneven steps until they were too far away to see. Could it have been something in the Nether? That didn’t quite sit right with you. Maybe something at spawn? You still felt that, somehow, Dream was involved with all of this, though you couldn’t explain why. You knew that Ranboo sometimes struggled with his own conscience, his guilt even manifesting itself as Dream’s voice to him at times, but the last time Ranboo had experienced that was nearly a month ago. 

...What if the voice had returned?

You didn’t want to think about that or the implications that came with it. Consciously turning off those thoughts and blocking them out, you started back towards Ranboo’s house, knowing that sooner or later you were going to have to ask him about it. 

Five minutes and several awkwardly-placed steps later, you pushed through the fence gates into Ranboo’s home and carefully maneuvered your way in with him still in your arms. You had briefly considered taking him to Techno’s cabin where it would have been much warmer than the open-walled structure that Ranboo had created, but you didn’t want him to wake up and feel confused, or worse, guilty that he had caused enough panic to invade his friend’s home. So you carried him over to the bed and gently placed him down, unraveling his tail that had unconsciously wrapped around your arm while he was out.

Releasing a sigh of your own, you plopped down onto the ground, bringing your knees up and resting your crossed arms on top of them. Your expression morphed into a frown as you realized just how tired he looked. He barely moved, not even twitching like he usually did when he was asleep, and if it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of his chest you might have even thought he was dead. 

Reaching up, you untied your scarf and removed it. Ranboo was already on top of the other blankets, preventing him from actually using them, so you shook your scarf out, letting the long piece of cloth unfold itself. Once at full size, you leaned forward to drape it over him, doing your best to cover as much of him as you could. You returned to your spot on the floor, and within a few seconds, you could already feel your own tiredness returning, this time with a vengeance for being denied for so long.

Eyelids heavy, you felt yourself starting to doze off. Part of you didn’t want to; you wanted to be awake to make sure that Ranboo was okay if he suddenly woke up, but at this point, your need to rest was overpowering everything else. Knowing that you wouldn’t be able to stay awake for much longer, you reluctantly resigned and laid down, not even caring that it was just solid earth beneath you. A vague thought of the strangeness of not having your scarf with you was the last thing you remember before sleep took over and you passed out.

**Author's Note:**

> Guys what even— this had like 250 hits + kudos and bookmarks before I even posted????
> 
> y'all wack what if this sucks - you're gonna be disappointed >_>
> 
> This is the start to something that will hopefully go for a while - I do it because I can and no one can stop me mwahahahaha
> 
> Anyway, I love Ranboo thanksssss
> 
> Feel free to drop suggestions in the comments if you’d like!


End file.
